Postal Workers To Dallas Officials: Handle Loose Dog Problem
Randell Hebert, 42, showed his scarred hand from a dog bite. (Tristan Hallman/Staff)
Dog-bitten Dallas mail carrier tells City Council that loose dog problem has gotten worse
5/26/16 Dallas mail carrier Randell Hebert still feels pain six months after a dog chomped his hand.
Hebert was bitten in October after he dropped off a package at a Red Bird home. He would normally use a stick or his mail pouch or his dog spray to keep dogs at bay. But the dog took him by surprise when it ran through an unsecured screen door and clamped its jaws down on him.
The owner eventually came out and retrieved the dog after what Hebert said felt like about 30 seconds. He was shocked.
“I never thought it would happen to me,” he said.
Hebert, 42, was one of 57 postal carriers in Dallas bitten by dogs last year, according to the U.S. Postal Service. That ranks Dallas, which is dealing with a loose dog problem that recently left a homeless woman fatally mauled, tied for fourth-most attacks in the country.
Hebert and Dallas postmaster Yulonda Love made a public plea for help Wednesday at a Dallas City Council meeting.
“Violent dog behavior continues to pose a serious threat to our employees,” Love said.
Dallas saw an uptick in dog bites on mail carriers last year. Hebert said he encounters loose dogs two or three times a week on his Red Bird mail route these days, and the problem only seems to be getting worse.
Deputy Police Chief Rob Sherwin was assigned to help lead Dallas Animal Services and get a handle on the loose dog problem. Read more
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Mail carriers are fighting for their safety as officials with the City of Dallas continue to struggle to find answers to the stray dog problem.
Nationwide, there were more than 6,500 letter carriers attacked by dogs last year, 57 of those were in Dallas. “Dogs are protective in nature and may view our letter carriers handing mail to their owner as a threat,” said USPS Safety Director Linda DeCarlo. Read more